Fans of Conan were crushed when we recently learned that ‘The Legend of Conan‘ likely wouldn’t be happening and now screenwriter Chris Morgan shares what he believes is the cause of the movie being scrubbed.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been teasing a follow-up to ‘Conan the Destroyer’ almost since he returned to acting which would give us the aged King going on what would likely be one last adventure and one which fans have wanted. Only this almost ‘Unforgiven’ style film would probably have felt a bit like ‘Logan’ isn’t happening.
Speaking to Collider, Morgan gave this reason as to why he felt that we won’t be seeing ‘The Legend of Conan’:
“Conan will always have life in it, not for us, unfortunately. We put together a great, great story –I’m the biggest fan of the [John] Milius Conan film, a lot of people make fun of it but I think it’s the smartest script, I think it’s a great performance, I love the story. It actually has something to say about what it is to be a man and a warrior, what’s worth fighting for and what’s not, I’ve always loved it. To me, there’s only been one Conan movie, and it’s that one, there’s never been anything else. So our idea was to literally pick that movie up but 30 years later and kind of do a version of Unforgiven, where there’s something going on, and Conan is not the strongest guy he used to be, he’s not the legend he used to be; he’s an old, broken guy. And this thing comes down to where now he’s got to find a reason to go on and find a different way to fight other than just with brute strength. It was a great movie that just gave validation to even at the end of someone’s life there’s real value to them. I don’t know, it was so great, Arnold [Schwarzenegger] loved it. I think at the end of the day it was just probably too expensive, too big, and to the studio ultimately it wasn’t in the cards for them. So now it’s kind of out, and I think they’re looking elsewhere to do like maybe a TV show or something else with it. But that was my interest, just to tell that one story, but you never know, down the road we’ll see what happens.”
It looks like the budget was the main issue and the studio’s lack of faith in Arnold’s comeback. It also sounds like they would have put more money up front if they had recast Conan, but to everyone involved, this was to be Schwarzenegger’s swansong as the character:
“Frankly I wouldn’t have been interested if it was anyone but him, I don’t think that story would have been the same, and I don’t think it would’ve had the importance for me that it did. So that’s not something I ever would have pitched or backed.”
Not only would this have worked as an end-cap to the original films but this would have also been a very meta-view on both Schwarzenegger’s career and the decline of the violent action flicks which were so popular int he 80s. Sadly, it looks like we won’t be able to see Schwarzenegger wield a sword for one last outing as King Conan.
Are you annoyed that the studios have made such a poor decision by not giving us ‘The Legend of Conan’ or would only the fans have gone to see it with this bombing at the box office? Share your thoughts below!
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
